Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Sweetest Days of St. Valentine Series: Hugs and Kisses Cupcake Banner with A Sweet "Table-scape" Too!

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and the heart of my studio is fluttering with all kinda of projects to make and show! Remember my 25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series in December? Well, I have decided to put together another series based on Valentine's Day, only it will not be everyday. It will be a series of projects that I present every few days up until Valentine's Day. As they develop in my studio, I will post about them under the title The Sweetest Days of St. Valentine Series. My Sweetheart Rosette Wreath is already posted as the first project in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I will still be blogging and posting about my other non-Valentine related projects. I just wanted the Valentine projects to have a home of their own, so that they could be easily accessed. So for the first, well...second, project in the series...

Hugs and Kisses Cupcake Liner Banner

Today, I made a Hugs And Kisses Cupcake Liner Banner using Dollar Store cupcake liners strung on yummy Martha Stewart fancy yarn. It was a super quick project and with the help of my new Silhouette Cameo, it was made even quicker! If you don't have a Silhouette, no problem. You can complete this project without one. Here's how...

Materials

1- 100 Count Pack of Dollar Store Mini Cupcake Liners

Yarn

Assorted papers
Reinforcement Circles (nice to have)

Scissors, Hole Punch

Rubber Cement

First, measure out the length of your banner and cut a piece out of your yarn.

Punch a hole through the bottom center of the liners. I did several at a time. It can get a little difficult with a standard hold punch because in order to get into the center, you have to really work in the liners.

Secure the two ends of the yarn with a piece of scotch tape. This makes it easier to 'sew' it through the cups. Take your yarn end and sew it through the holes. Once you get the clumps of cups onto the string, you can separate and distribute them to your liking.

TIP: Think about the direction that the liners will be facing as you thread them onto the yarn. I decided to change the direction halfway though so that the cups where "facing in" from each end.

Decide what word or words you want on your banner. I chose "Hugs and Kisses." I first smashed, yes smashed, enough liners to create a nice sunburst-like background for my letters.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the 1 1/2 inch red letters spelling out my message, but you can use whatever method you like, or buy chipboard letters. I also cut out 11, 2 1/2 inch hearts from white paper. It added some interest and helped the letters pop off the cupcake liner background.

I glued each layer with a little rubber cement. I just love working with rubber cement.

Next, in order to reinforce the hole that I was going to punch in each each letter burst, I glued a little square piece of white paper to the back. If I had been able to locate my reinforcement circles, I would have used them instead. Sigh. Life with teenagers. What can I say?

After punching holes in the tops, I strung a piece of yarn through each letter burst. I chose to use a corresponding Martha Stewart yarn that had white, pink and red. You can design it however you want. I tied them onto the banner making a floppy little bow on top. Once I got them into place on my pine bench, I was able to adjust the locations of the letters to my liking. Here is the completed banner...

I was super pleased with the results. After taking all of maybe 25 seconds to enjoy this and snap an image, I knew the bench needed 'more.' I got to work putting a few things together and arranging them on the bench.

I took this cute, stuffed little owl that I picked up at Pier One last fall and dress her in a little sweetheart of a Valentine outfit!

I fashioned a "skirt" out of a piece of rosette trim and attached it along with the red felt bow up top with quilting pins and hand stitched her little heart wand to her wing. Isn't she just the best! -smile-

I put together a few of my vintage whatnots into one of my wooden boxes and scattered a few wooden hearts on a piece of jute around.

I needed a little accent in one spot and decided to add a bow, made from the same yarn I used for the banner, to a small vintage strainer.

Inside this strainer was a polished stone that I must have just thrown in it months ago. Flying by the seat of my pants, like I often do when I am creating, I picked it up, ran into the studio and added a little accent.

I think it adds a nice little surprise if someone decides to take a peak down inside!

So here is my pine bench with the Hugs and Kisses Cupcake Liner Banner and an assortment of Valentine's Day accents and such.

A few more images...

This fun Hugs and Kisses Cupcake Banner takes no time at all and is a lot of fun! I figure it cost me about 3 bucks altogether too. I wanted to show this to you guys early on so that you could grab a bag of these cupcake liners before they sell out! So get over to your local Dollar Store! You've got a banner to make!

How do you come up with this stuff? Very fun and it's the perfect thing for your bench. I have seen banners all over blogland and have never made one myself. You make it seem pretty easy...great tutorial. Happy Friday!

Lesley - Something is up. First I've lost your email address so I'm telling you here. I was worried because I hadn't seen any posts from you since Sunday. But when I came here, I see that I have missed two. You're my second blogger friend whose blogs aren't showing up in my reader. Second, I found an owl pitcher from when I was in college and a pair of owl bookends that made me think of you.Now I have to figure out what the problem is.

wonderful idea a special place to come to see Valentines day projects. Great way to help us all spread the love in February ! I adore the snazzy owl of course She is too cool for just plain ole feathers

Your Valentine decor' is incredible. I would love for you to join my weekly linky fri-monday. I am also hosting a Valentine contest with prizes. Hope to see you soon.http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/